Tomb Raider Preview

Lara hunts down wolves in extended E3 Tomb Raider Demo.

However in an interview with developer Crystal Dynamics' global brand manager Karl Stewart, we're told the game will not be "heavy when it comes to quick time events" - despite the elements shown in the demo footage.

We skip through time to a scene that should ring familiar to anyone whose finger has been on the pulse of Croft news. The wolf attack sequence that was leaked in a script last month here rears its head in full animated glory. At this point we meet Conrad Roth, a 52-year-old treasure hunter who helps turn young Lara into the Croft we know.

Roth is attacked by wolves and passes out, leaving our bewildered Lara to pursue the animals to their den to retrieve items they've taken. There's an element of non-linearity to the mission, which means Croft can find the den a number of different ways – in this case she scales a nearby dilapidated building, but alternatively she could have followed the wolves' fresh prints. Similarly she can get back to Roth using a number of different routes. In the demo she does this by diving down from the top of a waterfall, as opposed to crawling down the side of the same building she just scaled.

We're told this island is just one of many hubs that Lara will be able to travel to repeatedly, by forming basecamps at each of the hubs she discovers. Fast Travel allows Croft to easily get back to old hubs for further exploration - although what you gain from exploring these areas isn't made clear. Crystal Dynamics has also implemented varied weather conditions as well as night and day cycles which affects the islands you visit. Additionally, Lara will be able to salvage material to craft into items, which offers a nicely literal take on her resourceful survivor persona.

Little is known about the game's combat system, or even much of Lara's revised character as of yet, but so far the refurbished Tomb Raider seems like an impressive concoction of old themes and very new interpretations.

Tomb Raider is due for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in autumn 2012.